1. Field
The present disclosure pertains to systems and methods for providing respiratory therapy of a subject. In particular, the present disclosure pertains to inhibiting condensation or rainout in respiratory therapy that includes humidification.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that some types of respiratory therapy involve the delivery of a pressurized flow of breathable gas to the airway of a subject. It is known that a therapy session may (be intended to) span eight or more hours, and may (be intended to) coincide and/or overlap, at least in part, with a subject's daily and/or nightly sleeping period. It is known that a subject's comfort during a therapy session is a useful factor in therapy adoption rates and/or therapy success rates. It is known that a flow of breathable gas may be pressurized at varying levels of pressure, even during a single therapy session. It is known that humidification of the pressurized flow of breathable gas may improve a subject's comfort. It is known that heated humidification may improve a subject's comfort. It is known that condensation may form along the subject interface of respiratory therapy systems that include heated humidification. It is known that the formation of condensation, or rainout, has various downsides, including but not limited to reduced comfort of the subject.
It is known that algorithms may operate to control the humidity level and/or temperature used in respiratory therapy during a therapy session, for example using feedback. It is known that such algorithms may autonomously and/or automatically change operational settings of respiratory therapy systems to cause a particular effect, such as, by way of non-limiting example, maintaining a target level of relative humidity within the subject interface. Such algorithms may be based on various detections, conditions, settings, preferences, and/or occurrences of respiratory events. It is known that such algorithms may operate within a range of permitted levels, for example for the temperature of the delivered pressurized, humidified flow of breathable gas, including a minimum level and a maximum level that form the boundaries of such a range.